Hey guys, I was wondering if I could get some help on something.
I work in a library and once a month we have a Magic the Gathering club night where folks can come in to play Magic usually a lot of EDH. A lot of the players are newer or casual and I'm realizing my decks are just a bit too much for them. Even when I let people use my decks (which is often as I keep extras with me for folks who want to play and didn't bring a deck of their own either because they don't have one or didn't know we had the club), if other folks are playing their own it tends to make for games where one of my decks is gonna win. Last time a kid won a game where he had his hand removed from the game and was getting teamed up on a bit. He was using my Meren deck that he had no real understanding of how to play and still cobbled together a win. And while it makes me a proud deck builder it's a bit much for the table. That deck isn't coming to the club anymore as the last time I played it I managed to win 2 games in under an hour.
I'm looking for something new to have available in the club. I've got a Kadena deck that's a bit jankier and probably on the right power level but it's slow and grindy and not exactly good at facilitating the kind of play I want here.
To give you some idea of what the regulars have
1. We have a guy who's slowly putting together Jarad, Golgari Lich lord EDH but still doesn't fully understand how to stock his graveyard.
2. We have a guy who generally plays the new Tolsimir with a wolf tribal fight deck.
3. We've got two other regulars, (father and son) who tend to play weird casual or janky brews occasionally getting up to focused level but usually not beyond that. The most common decks they've played are a Saheeli precon (slightly modded) and an Avacyn Angel of Hope indestructible + wraths deck. The dad tends to play that one and a big mana black deck full of horrors.
I'm looking for something that will facilitate good games, let people do what they're trying to do and possibly speed the games along but won't dominate the group. I'm a host, not trying to take them all out with my usual deckbuilding which tends to lean into optimized builds. The group is pretty casual and it's a place where casual and jank ideas can probably succeed. Not sure what I should build though and I'm looking for suggestions.
Sounds like you might want to build an actual group-hug deck? Something based around the new king, for example.
Alternatively, you could build a stompy tribal deck, like Dinos with Gishath or Dragons with the Ur-dragon or something like that. That way you've got a deck more focused on building your own thing than on stopping your opponents from doing their thing.
Edit: you could also build something with a theme of stealing creatures, like yasova dragonclaw, sisters of stone death or dragonlord silumgar. Such decks tend to automatically scale up or down depending on the power of your opponent's decks, but it is a tactic that's inherently more disruptive to their strategies.
I have an idea for a 5 color group hug deck with Golos at the helm that might work. It was pretty much theoretical but I wasn't sure I'd pull the trigger on it.
I’ve built a couple decks that are really hard to win with. One because the strategy is so out there, and the other because it requires intense amount of skill.
Zedruu - voltron. So the idea is to have 1-3 cmc auras that boost and protect zedruu. Then donate them to the opponents. Things like bravado that when donates to a tokens player can make zedruu go from lame to kill-on-sight. It’s really fun, but immensely hard to win with. It’s also fun trying to choose the right players to donate cards to.
Rakdos the defiler - so this deck is possible to win with, but it’s insanely hard to do so. The idea is suicide RB aggro. It’s the deck I whip out if I wanna get a game in under 45 mins. Even if I lose within 20-30 mins, I’ve usually done enough damage/destabilized the game enough that it ends soon after. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who had not enjoyed playing against it, since it’s the opposite of what most people build (value-to-the-max).
I’ve built a couple decks that are really hard to win with. One because the strategy is so out there, and the other because it requires intense amount of skill.
Zedruu - voltron. So the idea is to have 1-3 cmc auras that boost and protect zedruu. Then donate them to the opponents. Things like bravado that when donates to a tokens player can make zedruu go from lame to kill-on-sight. It’s really fun, but immensely hard to win with. It’s also fun trying to choose the right players to donate cards to.
Rakdos the defiler - so this deck is possible to win with, but it’s insanely hard to do so. The idea is suicide RB aggro. It’s the deck I whip out if I wanna get a game in under 45 mins. Even if I lose within 20-30 mins, I’ve usually done enough damage/destabilized the game enough that it ends soon after. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who had not enjoyed playing against it, since it’s the opposite of what most people build (value-to-the-max).
It’s not up to date, but gives you an idea of how it plays. Basically, dependent on your opening hand, you have To plan the early game, and try to accelerate the process as much as possible.
Cards like pains reward are amazing. I usually start the opening bid by paying 1/3 of my life. It really gets the game spiraling out of control at that point!
Oh yea. I’ve not yet managed to do it, but one day, I plan to use Kaervek's Spite as a wincon.
I often suggest lazav, dimir mastermind Clone tribal type decks because it scales with the group power.
I find that in casual play groups it's just about having sufficient time to play the game and who wins isn't actually relevant as long as they don't win quickly. So sometimes if you are just naturally a spike you'll find yourself crushing people with the worst decks you can imagine. What you have to do is change your play style to match them. Your job becomes sort of Police, slow down whoever is winning, having good threat assessment is critical, just keep the game going until people have played their decks gambits (everyone has had a chance to win) then end it quickly.
I have an actually quite powerful and expensvie Glissa, the traitor deck but its slow and grindy so no one feels like they are getting crushed when they play against it.
I work in a library and once a month we have a Magic the Gathering club night where folks can come in to play Magic usually a lot of EDH. A lot of the players are newer or casual and I'm realizing my decks are just a bit too much for them. Even when I let people use my decks (which is often as I keep extras with me for folks who want to play and didn't bring a deck of their own either because they don't have one or didn't know we had the club), if other folks are playing their own it tends to make for games where one of my decks is gonna win. Last time a kid won a game where he had his hand removed from the game and was getting teamed up on a bit. He was using my Meren deck that he had no real understanding of how to play and still cobbled together a win. And while it makes me a proud deck builder it's a bit much for the table. That deck isn't coming to the club anymore as the last time I played it I managed to win 2 games in under an hour.
I'm looking for something new to have available in the club. I've got a Kadena deck that's a bit jankier and probably on the right power level but it's slow and grindy and not exactly good at facilitating the kind of play I want here.
To give you some idea of what the regulars have
1. We have a guy who's slowly putting together Jarad, Golgari Lich lord EDH but still doesn't fully understand how to stock his graveyard.
2. We have a guy who generally plays the new Tolsimir with a wolf tribal fight deck.
3. We've got two other regulars, (father and son) who tend to play weird casual or janky brews occasionally getting up to focused level but usually not beyond that. The most common decks they've played are a Saheeli precon (slightly modded) and an Avacyn Angel of Hope indestructible + wraths deck. The dad tends to play that one and a big mana black deck full of horrors.
I'm looking for something that will facilitate good games, let people do what they're trying to do and possibly speed the games along but won't dominate the group. I'm a host, not trying to take them all out with my usual deckbuilding which tends to lean into optimized builds. The group is pretty casual and it's a place where casual and jank ideas can probably succeed. Not sure what I should build though and I'm looking for suggestions.
Alternatively, you could build a stompy tribal deck, like Dinos with Gishath or Dragons with the Ur-dragon or something like that. That way you've got a deck more focused on building your own thing than on stopping your opponents from doing their thing.
Edit: you could also build something with a theme of stealing creatures, like yasova dragonclaw, sisters of stone death or dragonlord silumgar. Such decks tend to automatically scale up or down depending on the power of your opponent's decks, but it is a tactic that's inherently more disruptive to their strategies.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/group-hug-golos/?cb=1572758019
Zedruu - voltron. So the idea is to have 1-3 cmc auras that boost and protect zedruu. Then donate them to the opponents. Things like bravado that when donates to a tokens player can make zedruu go from lame to kill-on-sight. It’s really fun, but immensely hard to win with. It’s also fun trying to choose the right players to donate cards to.
Rakdos the defiler - so this deck is possible to win with, but it’s insanely hard to do so. The idea is suicide RB aggro. It’s the deck I whip out if I wanna get a game in under 45 mins. Even if I lose within 20-30 mins, I’ve usually done enough damage/destabilized the game enough that it ends soon after. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who had not enjoyed playing against it, since it’s the opposite of what most people build (value-to-the-max).
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
Got a list for the Rakdos deck?
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/decks/3702-rakdos-suicide-br
It’s not up to date, but gives you an idea of how it plays. Basically, dependent on your opening hand, you have To plan the early game, and try to accelerate the process as much as possible.
Cards like pains reward are amazing. I usually start the opening bid by paying 1/3 of my life. It really gets the game spiraling out of control at that point!
Oh yea. I’ve not yet managed to do it, but one day, I plan to use Kaervek's Spite as a wincon.
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
I find that in casual play groups it's just about having sufficient time to play the game and who wins isn't actually relevant as long as they don't win quickly. So sometimes if you are just naturally a spike you'll find yourself crushing people with the worst decks you can imagine. What you have to do is change your play style to match them. Your job becomes sort of Police, slow down whoever is winning, having good threat assessment is critical, just keep the game going until people have played their decks gambits (everyone has had a chance to win) then end it quickly.
I have an actually quite powerful and expensvie Glissa, the traitor deck but its slow and grindy so no one feels like they are getting crushed when they play against it.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own